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Govt should resolve sleepover case with unions not courts

Thursday, 17 March 2011, 3:54 pm
Press Release: Public Service Association

MEDIA RELEASE

March 17 2011

For Immediate use


Government should resolve sleepover case with unions rather than drag more appeals through the courts


The IHC’s appeal against a court decision that grants disability support workers a minimum wage for working sleepovers is the wrong approach. The employer and the Government should sit down and talk with unions about how to resolve the case, says the Public Service Association (PSA).

Last month the Court of Appeal ruled that disability support workers are working when on sleepover nightshifts and should be paid the adult minimum wage for every hour of the shift. Now disability support provider IHC has taken an appeal to the Supreme Court.

“We want to resolve this issue by sitting down with the Government and providers, instead of creating even more costly delays in the court system,” says PSA National Secretary Richard Wagstaff.

“Three court decisions that have gone against the employer. A further appeal is the wrong way to go and will fail to resolve the matter.

“This is not the time to drag another appeal through the courts. It’s time the government stopped the delays and resolved this issue in a way that is fair to workers and their families,” says Richard Wagstaff.

“Disability support workers are some of the lowest paid workers in the country. They carry out an important community service that their work comes with weighty responsibility.

“Presently disability support workers receive an allowance for sleepover shifts which equates to under $5 an hour. For some workers in the sector it equates to less than $4 an hour. That is well below the statutory minimum wage of $12.75 an hour.

“A Supreme Court appeal will cost IHC thousands of dollars. It would be far better if the government negotiated with support providers and the unions to adequately fund the sector so that workers can be paid an hourly minimum wage for working sleepover shifts.

“Disability support workers have given their labour for less than the legal minimum wage for many years. That situation cannot carry on any longer.

“It’s time for the government to honour the recent Court of Appeal decision and commit to adequately funding the sector and stop relying on the goodwill of dedicated workers to carry a forgotten sector – one that supports society’s most vulnerable members,” says Richard Wagstaff.


ENDS

 
 
 
 
 
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